The Capitals now have a one-point lead over the Philadelphia Flyers for the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, although Philly holds a game in hand (which you can witness tomorrow afternoon, in the NBC Game of the Week against the New York Rangers). Meanwhile, the Sabres at least earned a point to keep themselves one point ahead of the eighth-place Rangers and two points ahead of the ninth place Hurricanes.

This sets up an incredibly juicy Sabres-Hurricanes contest in Carolina on Sunday evening.

Speaking of the Canes, they played against the Islanders tonight in a game they had to win (regardless of the fact that the Isles have been notably scrappy lately). Carolina did just that, as Erik Cole won it for his team once again while Joe Corvo had a goal and two assists. Again, the Hurricanes are now only two points behind the Sabres and one point behind the Rangers for one of the final playoff spots.

Three things were clinched in these two games. First, the Bruins guaranteed themselves a top-three seed by clinching the Northeast Division with today’s win. This defeat eliminated Atlanta from the playoffs (read the full recap here).

Meanwhile, Zach Parise returned to the Devils’ fold just in time to watch his team get eliminated from the postseason for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Mathieu Darche scored two goals and Carey Price made 20 saves to win this one for the Habs.

The Maple Leafs’ playoff dreams are still alive, even if their chances are pretty slim. Phil Kessel hit the 30-goal mark for the third straight season by scoring the game’s opening goal, Jason Spezza scored twice in a losing effort and James Reimer made 23 saves in this Toronto win. The Leafs are a little short on points and games remaining, but they can still dream of an unlikely playoff run thanks to this victory.

The Penguins reached the 100-point mark tonight, but the Lightning kept pace for home ice advantage in their near-definite first round matchup. Pittsburgh has three more points than Tampa Bay, but the Bolts have an extra game in hand so they can close that gap to just one point if they earn two points in that extra contest.

Jordan Staal earned three assists in the game to help the Pens come back from a 2-1 deficit while Dwayne Roloson stopped 29 out of 30 shots to officially eliminate the Wild from the West playoffs, which must have been slightly sweet since Roloson was once in Minnesota’s goalie rotation.

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It was an interesting and game-changing Saturday in the East, with teams jockeying for position in fascinating ways. Keep your eye on PHT tonight, as we’ll handicap the race for the top spot in the East as well as the slugfest for the final two seeds.

With the season winding down and the playoff picture sorting itself out, we’ll be taking a look at the night’s games and how they’ll potentially affect the playoff races. This is ProHockeyTalk’s “Race for the Playoffs.”

This post will detail the East games. Stay tuned for the West version later on.

Here are the biggest games. Please note that we are spotlighting the most playoff-relevant contests rather than every single game tonight.

7:00 pm ET

Carolina @ Washington

For a full preview of this game, click here. The bottom line is that the Hurricanes need to close a five-point gap in seven games to take a playoff spot from the Buffalo Sabres. Meanwhile, Washington can focus on seeding in this game, as they can improve their chances of winning the top spot or at least the Southeast Division title with a win.

Buffalo @ Toronto

I listed the Maple Leafs in this post’s relevant standings, but the bottom line is that their chances are slim at best. Beating Buffalo in regulation would improve those long odds, although accomplishing that feat would probably be a bigger deal for the Hurricanes than the Leafs. The Sabres hope to avoid losing their third straight game against Toronto, so this is far from a sure thing, especially since it is a home game for the Maple Leafs.

Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh

As we discussed on Sunday, the Penguins could move into a virtual tie for the Atlantic Division crown – as well as the Eastern Conference’s top seed – with a regulation win tonight. It wouldn’t be a fully legitimate tie because the Flyers hold a game in hand, but it would certainly be a slim margin for Philly if that happened.

Perhaps the most interesting subplot might be that the Capitals, Flyers and Penguins could all finish tonight’s games with 100 standings points. For that to happen, Philly would need to lose to Pittsburgh in regulation while Washington would need a win.

For more information about the Penguins’ home stretch and their big-picture chances of stealing the division, click here. If you want another look at the game, check this out.

7:30 pm ET

Atlanta @ Montreal; Chicago @ Boston

The Thrashers are probably too far gone for serious consideration, so the focus shifts to the Habs, who may be too far behind the Bruins for the Northeast Division title. Even if the Bruins might lose to a desperate Blackhawks team. The Canadiens must also worry about seeding, as they only own a tie-breaker over the seventh place Rangers and might even need to fight off the eighth place Sabres.

Ottawa @ Tampa Bay

The Lightning can keep their very slim Southeast Division title dreams alive, while also boosting their also-questionable chances of usurping the Penguins for the fourth seed. It won’t be as easy as it might look, though, because the Senators have been a pesky bunch lately.

Just about every night will be important for the New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs and other teams fighting for the East’s final playoff spot. Yet Sunday might be a particularly important evening for those general managers, as teams with uncertain futures were given one last chance to convince their front offices that they should be buyers rather than sellers during tomorrow’s trade deadline.

It’s tough to deny that Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon and Devils manager Lou Lamoriello are feeling quite differently about their teams, even if Tallon’s group actually holds one more point in the overall standings.

Since January 26th, the Devils only lost to two teams: the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. I was going to make some convoluted joke about sun burns, but the Florida loss actually came in New Jersey.

Either way, New Jersey earned a measure of revenge by beating their bubble opponents. Better yet, they managed to do so in regulation, keeping the Rats from getting a charity point in the process. Devils coach Jacques Lemaire is making a compelling case for the Jack Adams award, as his team is an incredible 17-2-2 in their last 21 games.

While the Devils seemed to win in typical fashion (a bland, low-scoring game), there was one thing that made tonight special: Martin Brodeur earned the victory in his first start since February 6th. Brian Rolston and David Clarkson provided just enough offense for New Jersey, as they were able to limit Florida to one Marty Reasoner score to win the game.

While it was great for the Devils to win on Sunday, it hasn’t been a great weekend overall considering the fact that most of the bubble teams kept picking up points. Atlanta’s been involved in two three-point games, as the Thrashers won this game in overtime against the Maple Leafs and received a charity point against the Panthers on Friday.

The Maple Leafs built a 2-0 lead, but received what could be a crucial blow when James Reimer went down with a head injury in the second period. We’ll keep an eye out for updates regarding the team’s surprisingly effective rookie netminder, especially considering the fact that Jean-Sebastien Giguere allowed all three of those Thrashers goals.

To be fair, Atlanta threw 43 shots at Reimer and Giguere, so it’s not like the older netminder was alone in the blame. The second and third periods were especially one-sided, as the Birds out-shot the Leafs by a whopping 31-11 margin. Ron Hainsey’s overtime winner probably wasn’t Giguere’s fault, as it appeared the goalie was screened by his own defenseman.

At this moment in time, it looks like the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes are the two teams with the best chance to take the final spot in the East. Obviously, there are plenty of contenders, though, so this should be awfully fun to watch. Could it come down to a final game (or even point) like last season? Stay tuned.

Every now and then, we’ll take a look at each conference’s standings to see if there are any trends or quirks that explain why some teams are failing and others are overachieving. Obviously, these results will reveal bigger truths once we advance later into this season … but it’s still fun and interesting to take a peek at bigger picture numbers.

Want to compare and contrast? Check out the November and October editions of the Eastern Conference standings analysis.

Which teams are the hottest and coldest? Which teams are road warriors and who depends too much on home cooking? Let’s take a look.

Tampa Bay should rise.

With Atlanta briefly stealing the top spot normally held by Washington, Tampa Bay kinda-sorta slipped under the radar. If there’s one team that should be even better going forward, it’s the Lightning because:

They hold two games in hand over the Caps and Thrashers.

Most importantly: they’ve only played 14 games at home versus 21 on the road. They have 27 games in Tampa Bay for the rest of the regular season versus only 20 more away from their arena.

Carolina and Florida are justified in a little schedule griping.

Much like Tampa Bay, Carolina and Florida are dealing with some odd early season scheduling. Unlike the Lightning, those teams sit outside the playoff picture to boot.

Along with playing overseas, the Hurricanes have played 14 games in Carolina versus 19 on the road. They cannot complain much louder than the Panthers, though, as Peter DeBoer’s squad played 13 games in Sunrise and 20 away from home so far.

Philadelphia and Washington must face the possibility of a 4/5 seed series.

Because they’re both facing stout divisional competition and will face more road games than home contests going forward. The Capitals have played in the most games (37) of any team in the East (although the Thrashers played in 37 as well). Washington already played 21 at home, so they’ll face five more road contests.

The Flyers must face the Penguins’ push, Pronger’s injury and more road contests (five more as well) too. Then again, they have 10 wins on the road already so they don’t have to worry as much as the Capitals, who own a 7-8-1 away record so far.

Who knows how that will shake out, but unbiased hockey fans would surely get a treat if those two teams met in the first round.

Road warriors

The Penguins (12-4-1) and Rangers (12-6-0) are the best teams in the league at bringing their shows on the road. Again, the Flyers are pretty efficient away from Philly too (10-2-3) while the Lightning are scrappy but not elite away from Tampa Bay (10-8-3).

This indicates that the Atlantic Division teams are going to be tough outs in the playoffs.

A long season in Long Island

The Islanders have played the least games (32) of any team in the NHL. If any fan base could get a fast forward button, it would probably be theirs (or the Devils’ fans, I guess).

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Overall, I think that the Capitals might be in a little trouble (at least as far as winning a division title is concerned) while the Flyers might face a bump in the road. The Lightning could move up while the Hurricanes and Panthers probably have the best chance among the teams outside of the top eight to make a run for the playoffs.

Oh, it wasn’t quite bold print worthy, but with Boston’s two games in hand and the Canadiens facing three more games on the road than at home for the rest of the season, the Northeast Division race could be awfully interesting too.

And, yes, the far-off possibility of a Flyers-Capitals first round series does get me kind of excited.